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Astrid Stalvern
"If bullets aren't working, you aren't using enough." In the desperate final hours of the One Year War, the Republic of Zeon resorted to employing barely-trained soldiers in its mobile suit forces in a final effort to try and hold back the Earth Federation. Astrid Stalvern was one of those soldiers, and years later is one of the few surviving veterans of the Battle of A Baoa Qu. She's turned her back on Zeon, and now only wants to put the hurt on the nation for using people like her so carelessly. She's a fierce and passionate woman, easily angered and easily quelled. Secretly hating herself for feeling so helpless in the past, Astrid constantly drives to improve herself both physically and spiritually. She's also inordinately fond of guns and actively collects weapons of all descriptions. Background Information As a young girl from Side 3, Astrid followed the One Year War closely, rooting for the dream of Zeon independance, like many people her age. When the desperate call went out for more pilots, age be damned, she wasted no time at all joining the flight academy. However, the war was coming to a close. Before she'd even completed training, Astrid's entire class was pulled out of the academy, put into a squadron of the latest high-performance Gelgoog Marines, and thrown into the battle of A Baoa Qu. The battle of A Baoa Qu is infamous as the most brutal military engagement of the One Year War, and still stands as a contender for the bloodiest engagement in Earth Sphere history. For a bright-eyed young cadet, A Baoa Qu turned a dream come true into the worst of nightmares. While Astrid was among the top of her class in mobile suit simulators, the combination of the Federation's experienced pilots, the chaos of the battle itself, and the complexity of the Gelgoog overwhelmed her. She only managed one confirmed kill, and then spent the entire battle attempting to escape it. When her Gelgoog ran out of fuel, she drifted until she crashed into what was left of a derelict Musai and spent the rest of her time until rescue just...watching the horror unfold. Astrid herself, hardened and jaded by her experience at A Baoa Qu, left the Zeon military shortly after A Baoa Qu and attempted to return to an ordinary civilian life on Side 6. She found this impossible though, the memories of that one battle haunting her every waking moment. The job Astrid finally managed to keep was at a gun shop. Learning how to maintain and repair them, she found that this helped clear her mind. As a result, Astrid spent quite a lot of money on her little black friends and now has a sizable collection and appreciation for firearms of all kinds. When Astrid discovered that the gun shop owner, her boss, was a Zeon sympathizer, it disgusted her. When she discovered he had a fully armed Zaku II concealed in a bunker under the shop's storage house, she punched him unconscious and hijacked it. Thus began Astrid's mercenary career. She left Side 6 mostly to avoid having to face anyone there for what she'd just done, but also to seek out a place to make use of her stolen mobile suit in a way that didn't help the Zeon remnants. Astrid wound up signing on with a small mercenary outfit based out of Side 5, and spent the next few years practicing her piloting with the other mercenaries or escorting civilian convoys. With Neo-Zeon rearing its ugly head, and the rumors of Katharon as a group of individuals and organizations opposing it (among other things), Astrid cut her ties to the mercenaries she'd been working with and went freelance, only to go out of her way to get hired on to Katharon. Her plan: To kick Zeon's ass for what it did to her and her friends during the One Year War. Personality Traits Astrid certainly didn't walk away from A Baoa Qu without baggage. The helplessness she felt has caused her to turn inward over the years, and she's become obsessed with bettering herself. She's taken to collecting firearms, and is drawn to machines with heavy weaponry, both as ways to try and make up for feeling so useless at A Baoa Qu. She's hardened her nerves and developed a stubborn streak. Every time she enters combat, she remembers how terrified she was back then, which just makes her blood boil. She's a very passionate person. This is usually seen in her aggressive side, but she's just as prone to being thoughtful. The trouble is, the more mellow Astrid isn't seen very often because she actively hides it. She goes out of her way to try and shore up and conceal anything she thinks is a weakness. She's wrong, but hasn't realized just how badly she's locking herself away yet. Astrid doesn't realize yet that this behavior will likely result in a lonely and violent demise. Astrid is disgusted by Zeon in all of its incarnations, because of the way her superiors so casually threw barely-trained cadets (including herself) into what they knew was going to be a brutal engagement. However, she does respect their mobile suits, and tends to pick Zeonic designs over others. It's fairly easy to earn Astrid's trust. The best way to get on her good side is for one to show they're dedicated to improving themselves just as she is. People with egos will have a harder time getting on her good side, since these are the types who generally feel they're good enough already. When Astrid does give herself time to relax, it's usually spent drinking. She doesn't smoke, though occasionally chews on an inlit cigarette or cigar - Which is just as easily replaced by a toothpick, pencil, or anything else handy. Drunkenness is like a refuge. At least for a while, she can stop caring about her obsessive habits or the trauma haunting her from A Baoa Qu. The only way to achieve this kind of mental sanctuary without booze is when she's cleaning her guns. Her love of firearms is a coping mechanism, guns make her feel safe. She hasn't felt safe since A Baoa Qu, unless there was a pistol strapped to her side. She's lost her gun collection several times over the years, with the exeption of the twin glocks she always carries. Her love of weapons has begun extending to mobile suit weaponry, too. There's something about the vibration through the hull when firing a gatling gun that makes a girl feel powerful. As a result, all of her customized mobile suits carry far more weapons than they should, and even a few they probably shouldn't. Talents & Abilities Astrid is obsessed with improving herself. This is most clearly seen in physical fitness, she regularly works out either with weights or free training. While not formally trained in martial arts, she's scrappy enough with general Zeonic military CQC training to put her physical strength to good use in a fistfight. Her gun collection is not just for show. Marksmanship is another aspect that Astrid regularly trains in to keep her skills sharp. She is equally comfortable with rifles, pistols, and shotguns. She only prefers pistols because they are smaller - and therefore she can carry more at a time. Scandenavian Her name isn't just an ethnic throwback to a generic european descent. Astrid's family is almost pure Scandenavian, traced back to before First Impact. Adding to that, her entire family tree has a history of temper problems, aggression, and hot blood. Astrid is no different. In another era, it's entirely possible she could be a viking berserker - or the wife of one. This is most easily seen when she gets embroiled in combat. Astrid has a brutal, almost savage approach to mobile suit combat. She will do anything to win, and sheds all pretense of finesse or style in favor of ripping her enemies to shreds. The unwritten rules of mobile suit combat, such as how many pilots don't go for the head, are completely thrown out the window. If nothing else, the sheer fact that Astrid repurposed an industrial rock cutting tool into a combat chainsaw should speak volumes about her love of brutality in battle. Possibly also harkening back to her "viking heritage", Astrid's canines are noticably longer than average. While far from 'vampire' sized, it still makes her smiles somewhat unsettling for those who aren't accustomed to it. There's also the fact that she doesn't smile often in a way that isn't directly related to shooting at something. How Aggressive is Astrid Stalvern? This aggressive. Logs |ordermethod = title |notcategory = cutscenes |suppresserrors = yes }} Category:Katharon Category:Original Characters Category:AEUG Category:Argama